


The Bitching Hour

by shenevereditsherwriting



Series: Newsies! (except longer and gayer) [2]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Big Brother Davey, Big Brother JoJo, Canon Era, Davey takes care of his brothers bc he loves them and wants them to be as happy as he is, JoJo is Fed Up with the stupidity, JoJo knows Everything, M/M, drunken rambling, he is That Bitch, if you just communicated, if you squint there's fluff, love u, stupid pining boys in love, this is like a few weeks after Davey... so yeah, we could avoid all of this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-24 09:38:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21097337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shenevereditsherwriting/pseuds/shenevereditsherwriting
Summary: Race knocks on Davey's door in the middle of the night very drunk. Davey walks him home and listens to the incoherent rambling of a small blonde boy who is terribly in love with his best friend. Basically, JoJo and Davey fix it.





	The Bitching Hour

Davey watched Race take a few more wobbly steps against the indigo backdrop. 

“And then he just RAN OUT! Can you believe that? We was havin’ a conversation and he just fuckin’ left! Ridiculous. Fuckin’ ridiculous.” The blonde was relaying a story from earlier in the evening. He’d been in a nasty fight with Albert, and showed up on Dave’s doorstep with a brown paper bag and a sailor’s mouth. Race had wanted to go all the way to Brooklyn to spend the night, but ended up allowing Davey to walk him back to the lodge. 

Now, they were only two blocks from Davey’s front door and had been walking for almost an hour. Dave liked the midnight air and wouldn’t dare interrupt Racetrack Higgins on a rampage. So, here they were. 

“I said, ‘Hey, Al, I miss you, where ya been?’ And he fucking yells at me for no goddamn reason!” The blonde rambled out, stepping awkwardly side to side. He bumped into a light post and then swung around it, barely gripping tight enough.

Davey worried maybe he’d lost track somewhere along the way, but decided that Race was just too drunk to make sense anymore. He kept ranting, and all was well. Davey thought it might be nice to, once (if) they made it back to the house, see if Jack was up, but he had to get Race all the way across town first. 

Davey’s train of thought was interrupted when he noticed Race had sat down on a curb in front of him instead of huffing along with swears and curses. When he approached, Davey saw that Race was crying into his hands, bottle still between his knees. 

“I just don’t understand! We’ve been close forever, Dave. He’s my roommate, my best friend, my… I can’t lose him! I don’t even know what’s wrong,” he shouted, still bent over.

Davey hesitated, but reasoned that the only way to help was to know the whole story. He sat down beside him and asked, “Race, why were ya headed to Brooklyn? You weren’t looking for Al…”

Race sniffed as he replied, “If I couldn’t get drunk enough to forget about him, I was gonna get fucked enough to forget about him.” 

Davey, thankful Race’s head was still down, could barely control his face as the realization hit him like a trolley. “Oh… so you were headed for Spot’s…”

Race huffed and gave a convincing enough laugh, but Davey knew better. “Man, if you’re the smartest we’s got, we’re in trouble for sure!”

The taller boy ignored that and prodded on. “Race… why don’t you tell me what’s really bothering you? Hmm? What is it about Albert that’s upset you so much?”

Race looked up and wiped at his eyes. “My earlier statement stands.” Upon Davey’s Not-Getting-It expression, he elaborated. “I had a fight with my best friend, spent a week’s sales on liquor, and set course for a place I knew I could get dicked down. What are you missing, Jacobs?”

And with that, Davey finally, finally understood. “Oh! You’re… you and Al…”

“Less ‘Me and Al’ and more ‘Me… and uh….. Al…’” Race sniffed as he collapsed back onto the wall behind him. 

Davey shuddered with empathy for the boy, having been in his very position only a few weeks ago. Well, minus the whiskey tour of the city. 

“Racer, listen to me.” The blonde rolled his head up to stare into Davey’s soul. “Here’s what we’re gonna do: We’re gonna get you home, get you cleaned up, and then we’re all gonna have a nice big conversation about our feelings. You, me, and Albert.”

Race looked absolutely horrified for about four seconds. On the fifth, he sharply turned to his right and emptied his stomach on the sidewalk. Davey heaved a sigh and stared up into the heavens, then gently started rubbing Race’s back while he continued to spit and cough. 

When Davey felt confident that he could guide Race to his feet, and Race promised he had no more vomiting to do, the taller boy slung an arm around his waist and pulled Race to stand. They made the rest of the walk easily without Race’s constant stumbling in circles and muttering about “unrequited love” slowing them down. Davey almost thought he’d fallen asleep on his shoulder and just kept his legs moving, but then Race grumbled and asked, “How much loooonger?”

Davey was pleased to see the common area lights still glowing when they came up on the lodge. He softly kicked the door, just enough to sound deliberate, but not too loud. 

“Oh Jesus, not again!” JoJo had thrown open the door and now pulled Davey by the elbow over the threshold. He crossed to relieve the boy of half of Race’s weight, then pushed the door back with his heel. Davey caught sight of a few older boys playing cards, but no Albert. He nodded and smiled in response to their waves across the room.

“What do ya mean ‘again’,” Davey questioned as they started for the stairs. JoJo grimaced.

“Two nights ago, he was bangin’ on my door begging to bunk with me. Al wasn’t home. The night before that, I was pretty sure he was drunk enough to die. He rambled on long enough for me to get an idea what’s goin’ on.” He shuddered and grunted when Race started giggling and became dead-weight. 

Davey bent his knees to try and make up for it. “Oh, so then… you know.” And then JoJo cracked a real smile, a beautiful grin that seemed to dim the candles. 

“Oh Dave, we all know. ‘Cept the boy in question. Fuckin’ idiots.” 

“Aye, Joeyyyy, that’s not a nice word…” Race frowned, trying to engage his feet to “help” the other two. 

JoJo looked over at Davey and chuckled. “Do ya think he means ‘fuck’ or ‘idiot’?”

Davey grinned and shook his head, glad to finally reach the top landing. “Should we take him to his room, or…”

JoJo hummed and deliberated for a second, tossing his head side to side. “…Nah, I’ll just let him stay with me. They can hash it out tomorrow.” He led Davey to his door. 

“So did you hear the big argument, then?” Dave asked. He knew he shouldn’t engage in gossip – that’s what his Ma always told him – but he couldn’t help himself. 

“Parts. Though it wasn’t much of an argument. There was some yelling, but nothing really made sense.” He frowned, but Davey decided he wouldn’t ask any more questions. Together, they ushered Race into JoJo’s room and onto the spare bunk. Davey took to removing his shoes and shirt. Race was whispering soft “I’m sorry”s when JoJo came back with a wet cloth to clean up his face. Both assured the blonde he had nothing to apologize for, and they’d all be okay in the morning. He reluctantly nodded and, soon enough, was snoring. 

Davey gave JoJo a small smile and then nodded his head in the direction of the hall. JoJo mouthed “thank you” and turned his attention back to his brother. Dave had barely shut the door when a whisper of his name had him jumping out of his skin. He turned to see a shock of red hair, loose and wild with no cap to tame it. Albert’s face was red and splotchy, and the neck of his shirt was damp. Davey’s heart broke for the boy. 

Albert had to clear his throat, and still his voice was hoarse. “Is that… Race? In there?” When Davey nodded, Al nodded to himself and slide down the wall to hug his knees. Davey dared a look at the sky for the second time that night, then knelt to the floor after him. 

Albert lightly sobbed, and Davey raised a hand to comb through his hair gently. He whispered affirmations and gentle words, wiling the boy to open up. Al shook and sniffed and choked on his sobs, rinse and repeat. Davey just kept petting him, blinking away the tears in his own eyes. 

They sat like that for several minutes, until Albert quieted down and slowed his breathing. He sat up and wiped his face with his sleeve, grimacing at the mess. Davey pulled his hand back, squeezing his shoulder before dropping it to his lap.

“I know that I fucked up.” He finally chanced a peek at Davey’s face. “ I know that. I promise. But, now… I don’t know how to fix it.” His voice shook, and his lip trembled, but the redhead was fighting hard to keep himself together. 

“Al, will ya tell me what happened? What you two were fighting about?” And in those big eyes glowed the same fear that Race had shown just before he made the sidewalk smell a little more like New York. “I want to help…”

Albert looked at his lap and took a few deep breaths. He scraped some dirt from under his fingernails, and shifted so he was more securely leaning against the wall. He was still looking down when he began to speak. “I dunno when it started. Maybe a little at a time, but I just…” he paused, breath shaking, “Race and me, we’s… different. Than usual.”

“Different?” Davey questioned. He had the slightest idea where this was going, but he wasn’t about to take Al’s opportunity to vent away from him. 

“Different. I dunno what it’s about, but it’s not like it always was. You know how when you see a pretty girl–“ Davey was starkly reminded he and Jack were not out to the boys yet, “–you get all sweaty and bouncy? I hadn’t seen any pretty girls lately, but I been real bouncy. And I thought it was just in my head. And then the weather changed a few nights ago. Some kinda cold-front or something. The wind was blowing real hard and the rain … well the window barely stopped it. Anyway, Race was freezin’, asked to come to my bunk. I said “course”, like always. But something… was…”

“Different?” Davey aided with a knowing smile. 

Albert nodded and continued on. “He had his head on my shoulder, and I started feeling all bubbly and sweaty and I couldn’t breathe and I– I didn’t know what to do!”

“So… what did ya do?”

“I found a pretty girl. The next morning. Thought maybe I just needed to get away from all the guys for a bit. I came back today, and Race asked where I been and I just… lost it.”

Now armed with all the pieces of the puzzle, Davey understood perfectly. Race had loved Albert for who knows how long, but Al was just now figuring out his feelings. Race probably got self-conscious after noticing Al’s change in demeanor, not wanting to get his hopes up. So even though it was perfectly casual to bunk together on an unforgiving night, Albert skipping out for a few days right after terrified the poor blonde into thinking he’d lost him. Come on too strong. Made him uncomfortable. Davey had been there with boys lots of times: best friends suddenly pulling away when Davey showed a little too much emotion… new kids electing to “stay away from that one” for fear that he’d disrespect boundaries… even Jack, being all spacey just before Davey confronted him on the roof. It’s easy to feel like you’re scaring people away. 

Davey took Albert by the shoulders and forced him to face him. “Tomorrow morning, you’re going to wake up, carry a glass of water into JoJo’s room, and check on Race.” Albert opened his mouth like he was ready to protest, but Davey was quicker. “I know you might think he won’t want to see you. You’re wrong. You need to tell him everything you just told me.” Albert hung his head, already dreading the idea of serving his heart up on a platter. “And,” Davey continued, “he needs to do the same.” 

Al’s eyes snapped up and he sputtered over and over, trying to respond, trying to do anything with the information he just got. What had Race told Davey that he should hear? Was it the same? Were they going to be alright? Davey pulled him up by his elbows and led him into his room. He softly said, “It’ll be so okay, I promise,” before disappearing around the corner wearing a smirk.

The night was still up on the roof. Being a new moon, there was no light to guide him to the corner where the pillows and old blankets piled up. Davey didn’t need light, though. He could find Jack Kelly if all his senses wasted away. They gravitated toward each other so effortlessly, sometimes without even realizing. It didn’t take him long to feel soft pallet replacing the concrete under his shoes. He knelt down and pawed around for the edge of the blanket. He squeezed it between his fingers and pulled it back just long enough to slip underneath. 

“You’re creatin’ a draft in my perfectly fine cocoon,” Jack rasped facing away, startling Davey.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he promised, then snuggled in close. 

Jack hummed and shivered. He scooted back into Davey until they were as close as possible. Davey’s cold fingers skirted along his waist, searching for a hold. Jack giggled and brought his hand to meet the taller boy’s. They lay like that for a while, long after Davey was sure Jack had fallen asleep again. He listened to the silence and Jack’s breathing. His hair tickled him, moving back and forth across his forehead. The older boy breathed deep and then whispered, barely breaking the stillness. 

“So I guess he never made it to Brooklyn?” 

“No,” Davey smiled.

“Good.”

They were quiet for another moment, and then:

“Jackie, were we that bad?”

“No,” Jack smiled. 

“Good.”

The next morning, Davey and Jack walked together down into the common room. Jack buttoned his vest as he moved. The taller boy grabbed his arm to stop him. There, on one of the couches, sitting nearly on top of each other, were the most lovestruck boys in all of Manhattan. They were holding hands, speaking so low it’s a wonder they could hear each other. Both faces were red and tear-stained, but they were giggling and seemed happy. As a few more newsies trickled down into the area, they shared looks and smiles, glad for this new development. Davey felt an elbow in his side. JoJo grinned, staring at him. “Your turn.” He blushed and leaned further into Jack, who winked at JoJo, grabbed Davey by the waist, and kissed him. 

Davey kissed back, grinning the whole time.

**Author's Note:**

> hiya! i just wanna say thanks so much for reading! i haven't posted in a lil bit, so i hope you enjoy! this was so easy to write and get out, but i was pretty hasty so there are probably mistakes and typos. 
> 
> oh and i promise i have plans for Spot. he isn't gonna be a booty call forever ok he deserves love too
> 
> thank ya so much for reading, truly. <3 love you lots and i hope your day is amazing
> 
> i'm on tumblr at satanssugar so come hmu if you wanna chat or hang or whatever :)


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